The Long Hard Road
by imsomethingcool
Summary: Im going to change this quite a bit, i wasnt happy, but hopefully it will be ready in about a month or so
1. End of a Case?

**This is a Babe story, I have no idea how often I'll update, but im on holidays for the next two weeks to I might do some then.**

**Disclaimer: These are not mine, they are JE's, and its unfortunately going to stay that way**

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The Long Hard Road

Prologue:

Sometimes Steph wondered what she saw in Dickie Orr, the ex-husband who had screwed around (literally) even before their 1st Anniversary. She supposed it was because he was, by Burg standards, husband material. It was just that Steph wasn't really Burg wife-material. Wonder Woman simply hadn't wanted to hang up her cloak.

Her romance with Joe Morelli, who was a vice in the force, was rather the same. He was Burg husband material; she still wouldn't hang up her cloak and settle down. Eventually he had found a nice girl, also from the Burg, who would happily clean and cook.

Steph had just kept going the way she always had. She kept her job at Rangeman and eventually moved into one of the apartments on the fourth floor and pick up the occasional skip for Vinnie.

Not much had changed, but then, she didn't want it to. It was a life she was content, if not 100 happy, with.

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Chapter 1:

"Something's wrong, the connection isn't there. We have no way to connect Zervos to anyone else involved in the drug ring," Steph concluded to Lester. They were putting a report for Ranger updating him on the recent events of Rangeman's latest project, trying to bust a drug ring in the New Jersey area.

"Your right, there is nothing placing his men with the drugs, or even his money, yet he's the only one who could have set something, like this up."

"So maybe you not looking at the right person," Tank strolled in. He and Lester did some macho handshake and sat himself down next to Lester. "Say he had family," Lester snorted.

"Man, he's Greek, they have family _everywhere_, of course he has family… Steph, where you going?" Steph was already in her cubby, typing furiously at the computer.

"That's the connection, family! The Family," just then she felt her hairs on the back of her neck rise.

"Babe, Tank, Lester," Ranger greeted each of them in turn, "I need to talk to you," he told Steph.

"Not right now please, Ranger, I'm…" she trailed off as she looked at the articles displayed on the screen, "I got it," Steph read from the screen, "_Late yesterday afternoon, the charges against Mr Zervos were dropped. They included laundering money and fraud…_That's it; he siphoned money out of his company and gave it to…" Steph tapped at the keyboard again and a new set of articles filled the screen, "_A large sum of money was donated today by Mr Alan Zervos…The charity, FamilyCircle, is rumoured to have connections to the Celeni family, members of which were involved in the gangland wars of Miami in 1995_," Steph looked up and the three boys smiled at her.

"Well now that we have the connection, I want a report and a team in Miami will sort it out," Ranger said.

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**I know its short, but I just wanted to get the story started. R&R, I'll return the favor!**


	2. Distraction

**Disclaimer: I like this one: STD (standard disclaimer), but oh well, I don't own it anyway**

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Chapter 2:

"Babe, you up for distraction tonight?" Ranger asked Steph.

"Sure, the usual?" that meant the longer and shorter the better. Since the Zervos file was considered closed for the Trenton office and Miami was taking care of it, there was nothing else Steph had to do. Maybe dinner at her parents, but this sounded much more fun.

"Yeah, the jobs at Salt, someone will be here are 9 for you," and that was the extent of their conversation. Some nights he suggested that she wear her little red dress, but mostly all he told her was basic information, stuff that was only relevant to the job.

"Ranger, why won't you talk to me anymore?" Steph didn't know why she asked him, it was just another sentence that bypassed her brain before it came out. Suddenly she was up against the wall and Ranger was kissing her rather soundly.

"You and Morelli split for good now?" he asked. _What kind of question is that_, thought Steph. She pulled back from the kiss just long enough to whisper into his mouth.

"Yeah…" She was cut off by another mouth watering kiss. Steph felt her knees buckle and she was caught in Rangers arms. He broke from their kiss, breathing hard, his eyes liquid with desire. "Ranger, you know we're in the middle of the corridor?"

"Yeah Babe"

"Someone might see," she looked pointedly at the camera winking at them from the corner of the ceiling.

"They won't tell," Ranger pushed away from Steph, "I'll see you in the gym later," he brushed a kiss across her lips, leaving her sagging against the wall.

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Steph pulled up outside the bonds office and angled out of her new black Lexus. She walked in, where Connie and Lula were listening intently to the sounds coming from Vinnie's office. "It's barking today," said Connie, the receptionist who was _that_ kind of Italian. She was referring to the sounds Joyce Barnhardt was making. Joyce was the bitch that Steph had found screwing Dickie all those years ago.

"Yeah, they got at it early today, you got doughnuts?" asked Lula. Lula was a plus-size ex-hooker turned sometimes-filer-but-mostly-sidekick-bounty-hunter.

"You got any skips for me, Connie?"

"Nah, but you can take these for Rangeman," Steph was handed some files; they would go to the boys at Rangeman, and a package. She looked at the smallish box, it was nondescript, brown and addressed to one Carlos Manoso. Steph shrugged and left.

With no skips and all her files finished as work she though she might go to the gym…that thought had nothing to do with the fact that Ranger was going to be there, did it? She pulled into the garage at Rangeman, locked her car and took the elevator to the control room, where she dropped of the files and then package, then she went her apartment and she changed into some spankies (A/N: for those who do not know, spankies are tight ¾ gym pants) and a gym top. Steph didn't necessarily like getting sweaty, but it kept her fit and able to defend herself from most of her everyday skips.

She was half way through her program when Ranger appeared at the edge of her vision; he did the macho handshake thing with several guys and made his way over to her.

"Babe"

"Mmm...," Steph struggled to complete one last movement before turning to Ranger, "Ok, all good now."

"Just wanted to say hi,"

"Oh, well, hi then," that had annoyed her; he had left her wanting and well…she felt that it was about time she evened up the power thing in their relationship. Stealing herself, she leaned in and gave him a light kiss on his lips and walked away. Ranger let her, admiring the view of her tight ass.

"Man, she has you _whipped_," commented Tank once the doors had closed behind Steph.

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Steph was putting the final touches on her makeup for the distraction gig when there was a knock at her door. "Come in!" She finished with a last coat of mascara and grabbed a jacket from her wardrobe. She walked out into the lounge, but instead of Ranger, it was Lester, not that Steph minded, she liked him just as much as the next guy, buy he would never compare to Batman himself. "Hey Les, you ready?"

"Yeah, Ranger got caught up, handed this job over to Tank, said to say sorry," Lester smiled and ushered her out of the door.

Steph and Lester took the elevator down to garage and they hoped into a waiting Jeep, Tank was already in the driver's seat.

They arrived at the club about 20 minutes later; Steph had read the file on their latest skip, it look like a simple in-out job, nothing unusual about it. This time Steph attached the wire herself, she kind of missed Rangers warm hands, but she guessed anything that would take him away from work was pretty important that that there was nothing she could do about it.

When she entered the club, the skip, Andy Ralph, was already at the bar, drink in hand. He looked shitfaced even though it was only about 9:30. Steph sat down next to him and pretended to check her stocking for a ladder, drawing attention to her long shapely legs. She looked up and saw Ralph leering at he, she smiled, thinking how sleazy he looked. "You know, being single sucks," so it was a crap opening line, but whatever, he probably didn't understand a word she said anyway.

"Yoush wanna go to a party wish me?" he somehow slurred out.

"Sure," Steph swaggered her way out, knowing that Ralph wasn't far behind. As soon as she was out Tank had the cuffs on him.

"Les, Hal, taking him in, Steph and me'll meet you back at Rangeman," Tank ordered Les and Hal.

Steph hoped into the Jeep and waited for Tank, who slipped into the driver's seat quickly. "You know he waited until the cop was gone,"

"What? Huh?" _Yeah, Steph_, she thought, _real eloquent_.

"Ranger, he didn't make a move on you cause he didn't want you to run back to Morelli."

"Oh," the drive back was silent, both caught up in their own thoughts.

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Steph woke the next morning with clearer thoughts then she had thought in a long time. She had spent most of the night thinking, and for once it wasn't over a tub of Ben & Jerry's or a bottle of wine.

She had come to the conclusion that she wanted Ranger, she didn't know if she loved him, but she definitely wanted him, bad.

With this conclusion in hand, she dressed and made her way to the control room, determined that by the end of the day she would tell Ranger how she felt……or at least have gotten another kiss.

Steph complete the searches and changed to go to the gym. She walked in to be greeted by Lester and Tank, sparring on the mats.

"Hey, Bombshell! Come 'ere," called Lester, "you wanted me to show you that takedown, yeah?"

"Yeah, sure," it was all part of her job conditions, she had to train 4 times a week if she wanted to keep her job at Rangeman, but Steph had started to enjoy the sessions in the gym with the boys.

Lester directed her to stand upright, with he hands by her sides, then wrapped his arms around her upper torso, locking into a bear hug.

Tank watched them, showing Steph how to get out, "Tuck your chin into his elbow…elbow him in the tummy…stomp…well done Steph," she smiled at Tank and thanked him and Lester for their help.

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Tank looked at the team assembled in the conference room; he was explaining their roles in that capture of the latest skip.

"Steph you need to get his attention, her likes to invite 'special' girls to the VIP area, you need to secure an invitation," she noted that he said 'secure', not 'get directly from the skip'. "Once you're in the VIP area, you need to get close to Dominov, you need to establish a relationship with him. This is more then just a guy who missed his court date people, this is a dangerous guy."

"Aren't they all?" asked Lester, and got a frown from Tank for his efforts.

"It's not so important that we get him back to the system, the Feds will be paying us for our assistance in this case. The most important thing is that we get someone close to him, who can become his shadow. Steph, that's you, you're gonna be undercover for this op."

"Me?" Steph squeaked out, "Um, ok?"

"Yeah, Bomber, it would look a little strange if one of us guys wanted to hang round with him, don't cha reckon?" Tank smiled at her, "We're gonna be behind you all the way, just remember that you have to convince this guy that you think he's the best thing since the internet."

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Steph hopped out of the shower, deep in thought. Ranger had been gone for about a month now. She'd heard from Lester that a job in Miami had got FUBAR'd and Ranger had need to sort it out. _It would have been nice of him to call…no, do NOT start thinking like that!_

She had acted indifferent with the Rangeman boys, but she was hurting inside. Steph could pretend all she wanted that she didn't care about Ranger, but really, she did. Very much, in fact.

It wasn't until she looked in the mirror to do her hair that Steph noticed the envelope on her dresser. It simply had _Babe_ written on the front in Ranger's writing. She put it aside, they were going after Dominov and Steph didn't want anything to distract her.

"Bobby, you know it's not polite to stare!" Steph laughed at his reaction to her dress, or rather, piece of material held together by some thin silver chains. She grabbed a jacket, she didn't want arrive in _this_ outfit, it was way to revealing for that!

"Bomber, everybody's gonna be staring at you tonight, you better get used to it!" Lester commented from the side.

"Ok, enough talk," this caught Steph's ear, usually distraction jobs were kind of fun, but if Tank was this serious then she had better pay attention.

Steph had read the background info on this guy; he wasn't one she wanted to piss off.

The club, Salt, was busy, the line was long and Steph really didn't want to wait hours to get in. She pulled up in a Porsche Turbo, black, of course, and handed the keys to the valet along with a $100 bill, "Look after my car."

Another $100 went to the bouncer, "Name!" he barked.

"Stephanie Rodriguez," He bouncer, a Rangeman employee scanned his list and nodded to her and Steph was let in to a dark club, lasers crossed the ceiling and there was a smoke machine somewhere, white clouds covered the raised dance floor and spilled off the edges.

She made her way to a room for the side a deposited her coat then straight to the dance floor. Nothing shows confidence then a girl dancing alone and it wasn't long before she was surrounded by men, all wanting her attention.

While she danced Steph looked out across the rest of the club and spotted the entrance to the VIP room, the entrance was covered by red curtains and surrounded by butch men, clearly what was behind that door wasn't meant for the casual clubbers.

After she had danced for a few songs, Steph made her way to the bar where she looked pointedly at Dominov and told the bartender, "one of what he's having."

Dominov caught her look and sauntered over, clearly establishing himself as the alpha male, _stupid chauvinistic men_, thought Steph. "Put that on my tab, hey Adam," Dominov told the bartender.

Steph look at him, he was clearly of Russian descent, pale skin and think, dark hair, although his English wasn't marred by a clear accent, he didn't wound American either. His nose was a bit on the large side and his eyes were dark, almost black.

Dominov also looked at Steph, he saw a petite brunette, toned from exercise. Her breasts were not overly large, something that was rare in the club scene. Her brown hair was tamed into curly, falling to well below her thin shoulders. She was stunning to look at.

"So, I figure you might know how to have a good time," Dominov told Steph, "do you like to dance?"

"Of course"

They danced, rather closely and as the floor got more packed, the closer they danced. Dominvo pulled Steph even closer, so the she was practically hugging him and then he kissed her, Steph shuddered in disgust, but Dominov mistook it as a shudder of desire.

Unable to kiss him any longer, Steph broke away and smiled, inwardly disgusted. "I have to go to the ladies room, you don't mind, do you?"

"Of course, I wouldn't want you looking…anything but beautiful"

Steph made her way off the floor and down a corridor leading to the ladies. Inside the ladies, she was met with the sight of 5 girls snorting white powder. Knowing exactly what would happen if she took drugs; Steph declined an offer to join the ladies, and instead fixed up her makeup. She took advantage of the girls drug induced haze to swipe one of their VIP cards.

Stepping out of the room Steph bumped into a wall named Tank, "the ops been called off, there was an insider and Dominov has left, he knows someone was after him tonight. You don't need to make any excuses, just leave," and then he was gone.

Steph collected her coat and left the club. She didn't even have to tell the valet which can was hers, he knew straight away. "Thanks," she breathed in this ear, slipping him another $100.

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**Some notes, I am so sorry I didn't update, but oh well, im working on my laptop and it doesn't have wireless at home and whatever….. also the chapter update thing is being a bitch to me**

**I don't see joe in this story as stephs love interest, the broke up before the story started, I'm gonna say its cause he didn't like her job and she didn't want to quite. there are a lot of fics with this break up, you can read them if u want to find out, or u can make it up, or whatever… up its been done and I don't think I need to rewrite it here**

**Izi xoxo**


	3. The letter

**I don't own it, JE does but if anyone wants to buy me ranger from her ….**

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It wasn't until the next morning that Steph remembered the letter from Ranger. She retrieved it from her dresser and sat down on the couch. She must have just looked at it, turning it over in her hands, for a good 10 minutes, thinking about their relationship, reliving memories. The whole shower rail incident, their first kiss and the subsequent kisses in the ally, their _amazing_ night together, the nights she had spent in his apartment and finally her last kiss from him.

_Stop procrastinating you silly girl_, she mentally yelled at herself. Sighing, she opened the letter and began to read.

_To Steph,_

_I should probably be explaining why this is the first time you've heard from me in such a long time. I sent this in a package with Tank. He keeps yelling at me for not telling you where I've been for so long._

_I wanted you to know that I didn't just up and leave, there was the situation in Miami and after that I got asked, by Homeland Security no less, to head a SEAL operation overseas. We've completed most of the op and I should be coming home soon. Tank can tell you more, but I wanted to tell you, even if it meant just in a letter._

_Don't scowl, Babe, smile. I'm doing what I do best, leading my men into the great unknown._

_One of them died last night, a snake bite. I didn't know until he collapsed from the poison, he kept going for the team, he didn't want to let us down But even has he lay dying in my arms he wouldn't give up, he reminded me so much of you._

_This trip has made me realise that I love you, I don't want to ever lose you and I want to come home each day to your smile. I need you to go on Steph, you have been my light in the dark and been my sanity when I thought I was going insane._

_I love you, I need you, I want you, I don't express it often enough, or say it enough, but I do, and I want to keep on loving you until the world ends._

_Every night in this god forsaken jungle I remember you, how lucky I am to have had you in my life. I never want to let you go, I want to come home to you Steph, to hold you and finally see you smile again. _

_I miss you Steph, be there for me when I come home,_

_Ranger_

There was a photo included; it was of the group, Ranger standing in the centre. They weren't smiling but Steph was glad to see a picture. On the back was written, _Nothing easy is worth doing, this is my group, about to head out for the op, R xo_.

Steph sat there, on her couch, reading the letter and looking at the photo. She eventually cried herself to sleep, tears of happiness mixed with tears of sadness.

This was how Tank, Bobby and Lester found her several hours later, concerned because she hadn't turned up for work that morning. They quietly removed the letter and photo from her hands and Tank lifted her easily, carrying Steph to her bed.

She stirred as Tank settled her on the bed, "Huh?"

"Shh…Bomber, go back to sleep, dream sweetly," Steph smiled at his words and drifted back to sleep to dream of Ranger.

Back in her living room, the boys were reading the letter Ranger had written for Steph. "Well, it's about time Ric pulled his shit together," commented Tank, "I honestly thought he woulda done something bout it before now, but."

The boys let them selves out of Steph's apartment, thinking how nice it would be to finally see their boss and Bomber, their little 'sister' together.

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**Ranger, on the SEAL op**

Ranger shifted a little in the dense foliage, after all even Batman got uncomfortable when he had to lie in mud and leaves for hours on end.

His thoughts drifted to Steph, his babe, back in Trenton. He missed he so much, he hadn't seen her happy for so long, and he needed her to go on, he needed her to keep the dark away.

He thought again about the letter he had sent, he knew it would come as a bit of a shock to her, but not to the guys. Nothing ever seamed to get past them.

Ranger thought of Andrews, the man who had died from the snake bite, he had reminded him of Steph so much. Even as he lay dying in his arms he had wanted to continue his reporting of the situation. Ranger had long since distanced himself from the emotions involved in situations like that, he couldn't afford to feel regret or anger, or even sadness, less it distracted him and got him into a compromising situation.

Ranger wanted nothing more then to go home, home to Steph, but he had a job to do, one that must take precedence over all else.

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**ok, I don't know _anything_ about snake bites, cept that they can hurt a lot. im gonna redo the summay n possibly the title coz I honestly have no idea where this is going, so all plot suggestions r welcome, izi xoxo**


	4. Of planing, sparring and crying

**I haven't update coz I got kidnapped by the alien called homework…**

**I rekon you've waited long enough for another chapter so I gave you a long one**

**Disclaimer: I don't actually _own_ the characters but the forged papers are pretty good**

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**Steph's POV**

Steph woke up slowly; she blinked sleep from her eyes and stretched, letting out a bit yawn. She looked at the time, 8:30, somehow she had managed to sleep for 22 hours after reading the letter from Ranger.

The letter from Ranger, dragging herself out of bed and into the lounge area, Steph re-read the letter. She put the letter aside to look at the picture again, to see him, to have something tangible to hold, something not just a memory, it was . Twenty minutes later she was heading out the door when her mobile rang.

"'ello?"

"Miss Rodriguez?"

"Uh…" then se remember that this was her alias from the pervious night, "Yer, who's this?"

"Oh, my apologies, this is Alexi Dominov, we met at my club the other night."

"Uh, yer, sure, if you don't mind me asking, how did you get my number?"

"Again, my apologies, from the list, I'm sorry if it is unethical, but …"

"No, no, not at all, thanks for the dance the other night," Steph figured that if she had to pretend to like the guy, now was a good time to start as any.

"No problem, actually if you have made no plans for you evening, I was wondering if you would like to come to my club?"

Well, the buys _did_ say that she would have to build a relationship; Steph just didn't think it would be this soon, "Sure, that would be fine, I guess I'll see you tonight then, Mr Dominov?"

"Please, call me Alexi, Miss Rodriguez,"

"Well, Alexi, I guess you should call me Steph,"

"Tonight, then Steph. I apologise, but I must go. Good bye," disconnect.

Steph closed her phone and shuddered, he might have good manners but he was still a murdering bastard. She walked down the lift and took it directly to the conference room, wanting to fill Tank and the others in on the phone call.

Steph opened the door and was met with several grim faces. The boys were in a meeting with some suits. "Sorry to interrupt Tank, but I just received a phone call –"

"Excuse me," she was cut off by one of the suits, "this is a private meeting and I don't believe that you have clearance to attend."

This comment got him a scowl from Lester and Bobby, Tank opened his mouth but Steph beat him to it, "Like I'm said, I'm sorry to interrupt but this really cannot wait, _sir_."

Not wanting to deal with the suit further, she marched over Tank and whispered to him, "Dominvo called, he wants me to meet him at the club again."

"Tonight?" Steph nodded confirmation, "Fine, this gives you another opportunity to make it into the VIP area."

She nodded in agreement, it would be risky but if they actually pulled this off and Steph got close to Dominvo, they could manage to bust a major drug ring and bring down a major arms dealer.

Just a she went to walk away, Tank called out to her, "Steph, you should probably stay for the remainder of this meeting, we could use your help."

She was surprised, but Steph rook a seat next to Bobby, who silently handed over a file. "She doesn't have clearance!" The suit who had yelled at her before was obviously still a bit upset.

"Actually, she does, now sit down and shut up before we decide to take this matter into our own hands and bugger the law," Steph hadn't expected Bobby to be that supportive but she welcomed it all the same.

Tank looked at her, making sure that she was ok with staying; Steph nodded and look at him as if to say 'continue?'

"So, as I was saying, Ranger needs to be extracted with a minimum amount of fuss, preferably at night, but not while the group is at the base.

"You all know that they are situated in a remote area, the desert around the camp is particularly flat, meaning that the direct approach won't work."

Steph thought about what he said, she was all jumpy at the mention of Rangers name but she had to be professional, looking at this in an objective manner.

Analysing the situation in her head, Steph looked at the displays around the room. She hadn't noticed them when she first walked in, but there were satellite images of desert, and then a camp, showing high security and a militarily arranged network of buildings.

"Tank, how many men does this base hold?"

"About 500"

"And how long have they been stationed there?"

"Roughly six months," by Stephs reckoning that made it four months longer then Ranger had been away.

"And how do you suppose they cope for six months without their girlfriends and wives?"

Tank looked at her, "Well…um, they….just …do?"

"No, Tank, they have whores, and what information do you reckon I could get if I was in there, constantly?"

"Steph, you aren't suggesting that you actually…"

"No, Lester, I'm not suggesting anything, I'm _saying_ that if you could arrange for me to 'be of service' to the man that has Ranger we could actually get him out."

The boys just looked at her, the suits snickered but Steph was totally serious, if it meant that she had to fuck half the men at the base to get Ranger out, she would.

"You would need training, at least a month with the Feds. We would need to have you stationed at the …place where they get these…women from," She was amazed that Tank was taking her seriously; she had expected to have to fight him on this one.

"Ok, meeting dismissed, gentlemen, it was a pleasure to meet you once again, we will contact you within a week to discuss this matter further, in the mean time it would be appreciated of you could …research the background for this project," one of the men nodded and they left.

Tank, Lester and Bobby turned to Steph, "Are you serious about this, you would do this for the mission?" asked Lester.

"I'm not doing it for the mission; I'm doing it for Ranger."

"You love him," it wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"Yer, I love him, but then I guess you guys already knew that, huh?"

They smiled at her gently, knowing that this was as good as an admission that she would do anything to have Ranger back.

"Just one question, Ranger was supposed to be in some third world jungle, how come he's being held in a dessert complex, a bazillion kilometres from _anywhere_?"

Tank knelt down in front of her, taking her hands in his, "Steph, the packet that Ranger somehow got out to us, it was written a long time before it arrived, the op got fucked up so bad that no one in the team knew which side anyone else, it was worse then double crossing, there was some serious shit that went down OS Bomber.

"The messenger that managed to get the packet to us warned me that he was no longer apart of the SEAL op, that he was considered a rouge agent. Then, this morning, we received a phone call, someone with information regarding Rangers present situation. You have to trust us on this one Steph, something went down, we don't know what or why, but Ranger _is_ being held in this complex."

Steph nodded, trying not show to much emotion, she _really_ didn't need to be crying in front of the guys now. "I have to …go, I'll make sure that you get a copy of the phone call from Dominov."

Steph pulled her hands from Tanks and left the conference room; she went to the gym and changed into something light before warming up. Then she got serious, if she was to rescue Ranger then she had to be in peak condition, and that meant exercising and eating properly.

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**Bobby's POV, back in the conference room**

Bobby watched Steph leave, his heart almost breaking for the woman who was willing to do _anything_ to see Ranger again.

He turned to Tank and Lester, "She needs to talk, we can't actually _do _anything to help her psychologically."

"I hear you; this whole thing is so FUCKED UP!" It wasn't often that Lester was so emotional, but Bobby couldn't actually blame him. Steph was a sister to them, someone they protected because they loved, not because they were paid.

Knowing that Steph needed to work off her emotions, Bobby made his excuses to the boys and left. He checked into the control room and got Steph position, she was in the gym.

He made his way there and got changed, then went to find Steph. She was practicing her karate, street fighting but formal karate.

Bobby broke her spell, "Steph!" She cut a look at him, but Bobby was unswayed, instead he tossed her a pair of gloves, "You wanna spar?"

Steph pulled the gloves on and bowed to Bobby who returned it; they touched gloves and moved away from each other.

As they began to circle, Bobby almost _felt_ irritation and anger radiating off Steph, he looked more closely at her, focusing on her eyes.

He saw them sparkling with unshed tears and Bobby wondered if their sparring match was a good idea, with Steph so emotional he didn't want her losing control and hurting him.

While he was wrapped in thought, Steph lashed out with her front hand and followed it with a spinning kick, aimed at his head. Bobby instinctively moved his hands up, just as she wanted him to do. Stopping her kick short of his hands, Steph dropped low and aimed another kick at his kidneys.

The kick scored but before Bobby could react Steph was behind him, kicking him behind the knees and causing him to drop forward.

Once he was flat on his face, she pulled his arm across his back and applied a figure-four lock, if Bobby tried to pull his arm away, Steph could snap his wrist.

Keeping his arm in the lock, she put her knee to the small of his back and dug it in. "Steph, I surrender."

Bobby told himself that he was just being nice, that Steph didn't actually just "kill" him in less then 30 seconds; but not a minuter later when he was down again, Bobby actually had to admit that Steph was actually better then he was.

After she had worked off some of her anger, Steph left, leaving Bobby looking up at Tank. "You know, Bobby that you just got beat by a _girl_."

"Yer, Tank, I'm aware of that, and so are my muscles, if you will excuse me, I need a shower," but Tank persisted and followed him into the locker room.

"Bobby, seriously, I'm worried about her, she's not quite… she's different."

"No shit man, but like I said, this whole thing is so fucked up and if she was the same I would be even more worried then I am now."

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**Rangers POV, in the complex**

Ranger was confused. There were thoughts going around in his head, nothing made sense, _Hang on, everything makes sense to you man_. But then he realised that wasn't true.

Since the op left, hell, since he had left Trenton, he had been confused. Steph wasn't the same after breaking up with Morelli, she wasn't upset, but then again, she wasn't over-the-moon happy either.

So Ranger had pulled back, not wanting to be her rebound fuck. He loved her, wanted to be there for her, but he _didn't _want to be used by her. Then there was the mess in Miami, even before he left there was a mountain of shit that needed to be sorted through and that had made him a bastard for a few weeks.

"Mr Manoso, have you thought about what I said?"

_How can I think when you've got me so full of drugs?_ "I'm not going to tell you."

The man in the door laughed, "Mr Manoso, you and I both know that this would be easier if you gave me the information I want."

"Yes, I might be, but I don't want you to have it."

"Ah, this stubbornness must go, I really must have this information." With a nod from the man, several other came forward from the shadows, a needle was injected into Ranger and he began to feel pain, then slowly it faded into nothing…not unconsciousness but not awareness.

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**Stephs POV**

Steph cradles her head in her hands, unable to think of anything but Ranger. She missed him. She reached for the photo he had sent her and looked at him, again, for the 10th time that day.

Unable to hold them back she cried, big heaving sobs, desperate for his touch, his voice; but all she had was memories.

In the control room the boys all froze when they first heard the sobs coming from Stephs cubby. They looked at each other, none of them trying to hide the looks of naked panic that were on each of their faces. Not one of them wanted to deal with a crying woman; that was just scary; it was a job that deserved combat pay.

Finally, after a few minutes Lester ventured in to her cubby. He saw the photo and recognised Ranger. Then it hit him, Steph wasn't being hormonal or even irrational, she just missed him.

Except there was nothing 'just' about her tears, they were coming think and fast and Steph doubted they would ever stop.

"Steph, honey, it's gonna be ok, u gotta believe that, yer?"

"Les, you don't understand, I love him and I never told him, I thought that I would have forever and now…"

Lester scoped Steph up and carried her through the control room to the lift. He punched in the number for Steph's apartment and just held her while she cried.

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**So that's chapter 4, I hope you like it, tell if u think the rating needs to change or wateva, u can flame but try n b sublt bout it.**

**BTW, im aussie so I REFUSE to use the words "cell phone" it will be known as a mobile, moby or simply phone.**

**Also, a figure-four wrist lock is a lock using both ur hands and the victims wrist, ive seen someone break a wrist using this, so I no first hand that its real.**

**also also, I still have no idea were this is going to again, tell me wat should happen!**

**izi xoxo**


	5. Working it out

**Thanks to all the people who reviewed, its clichéd, but whatever, its also appreciated and even tho they were all basically saying "don't type shorthand" there were some good plot ideas, so thanks**

**Ok, I know its been a while, so excuses…again whatever**

**Apologies for typing in short hand, ill try not to do that in the actual story but otherwise I'm sorry**

**Even though I'm from Oz I speak to people from other countries all the time on msn so I don't necessarily type "Auzzie"**

**And the whole cell phone/mobile/moby/phone thing, if you pay attention to the setting of the story then you'll realise that there are some places that's it's almost impossible to have a land line, eg, _in the desert_! So pay attention and you'll figure it out, but if you're like me and you use a mobile for EVEYTHING then it doesn't really matter**

**I'll try and work on the dialogue a bit; I know how I HATE reading long descriptions and monologues so I'll try not to do that**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything….**

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**Previously on _The Long Hard Road_**

"_Les, you don't understand, I love him and I never told him, I thought that I would have forever and now…"_

_Lester scoped Steph up and carried her through the control room to the lift. He punched in the number for Steph's apartment and just held her while she cried._

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Steph was bought back to awareness with the ping of the lift doors opening.

"Sorry, Les, I don't usually cry or sleep this much."

Lester chuckled and let Steph out of his arms and they walked to her apartment. Inside she went to her bedroom and had a shower. 10 minutes later she was getting them both juices before sitting down at the table.

"Steph, you know that idea of yours was…" he trailed off, unable to find the words he wanted.

"Unconventional?" Lester nodded and Steph continued, "Yeh, I know, but if it gets Ranger out then it'll be worth it," Steph looked at Lester, her eyes asking for him to understand, "There's a lot I would do for him, I cannot rationalise this decision, I can only give it my all and hope it works."

"You sure you want to go through with this?"

She looked at him, hard, "Yes, I do."

"Right then, I think we need to get our shit together, 'cause Ranger's been away for long enough." The mention of Ranger's time away made Steph's breath catch and Lester realised that it probably wasn't the best thing to say.

"Ok, so… now what?" Steph didn't know where to go from here; she hadn't the training that the boys did.

"Now we tell Tank and Bobby, work out a plan and tell the Commander"

"Commander? Who?"

"Guy who trained Ranger, we don't officially work for him but he asks and we provide, mutual benefit and all that shit," Steph smiled, it was all going to work out.

"I guess we better have a meeting with Tank and Bobby then?"

"Sure better, I'll meeting you in the conference room in 2 hours, that will give me enough time to put together a brief for them, prepare a file for you and tell Rangeman's informants that we need info on this situation asap," he smiled at her, "It'll be ok, go and do some more searches and meet me in the conference room in 2 hours, yer?"

"Sure, Les, thank you, you didn't have to help me, I expected to have to fight you guys on this one," Lester smiled gently at Steph.

"Bomber, you can do this, we never doubted that for a second," he gave her a hug and let himself out of her apartment, leaving Steph to do her searches before the meeting.

Once Lester left Steph called her mother, not exactly what she wanted to do, but she hadn't been to dinner for a while, that pretty much constituted being a shitty daughter in the Burg.

"Hello?"

"Mum, its Steph—"

"Stephanie! Are you coming to dinner soon?"

"Gee mum, sarcastic much? No, I called to tell you that I'm going to be away for a while—"

"And then come to dinner? And just how long is 'a while'?"

"Well, I'll be away until I come back and 'a while' is however long it takes—"

"So you're going to just up and go? Why did do I have to have the only daughter who just ups and goes?"

"Can you put Daddy on?" Steph was rewarded with a 'harrumph' but heard the phone being handed over.

"Frank, your daughter wants to speak to you, why she can't be like Valerie I'll never know—"

"MUM! I can hear you!" Steph shouted down the phone, wanting to speak to her Dad but hoping that he wouldn't ask too many tricky questions.

"Stephie?"

"Yer, Daddy, it's me"

"What's your mother saying about you going away?"

"I'm going to have to go away for a while…work got complicated." Steph knew that with her Dad's military background, he could sort of understand having to leave on short notice.

"Would you like me to look after Rex, sweet?"

"Please, Daddy? And it looks like I'm going to have to go soon so do you reckon you can tell Vinnie and Connie and Lula?"

"Stephie? You know that your mother loves you? She just wonders where you came from sometimes…but I think you're your grandmother's granddaughter."

"Thanks, Daddy, I'll leave letters and stuff, and I'll be around sometime tomorrow, I'm not _just_ leaving, there are reasons," Steph some how felt the need to explain her actions, to justify them to those who she loved and loved her back.

"I know, just be safe"

"Ok, bye, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Wait- Stephie, your mother and I both love you, ok?"

"I love you both as well Daddy"

"Bye sweet"

"Bye Daddy"

Steph hung up feeling better but also feeling worse; she was guilt-free where her mother and that she was leaving with a clean slate, but then she was leaving to face she worst fear, a possible life without Ranger, and that scared her breathless.

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**Lester is putting the file together (his POV)**

I read the package Ranger had gotten to Tank, it clearly stated that Ranger was stationed in South America, just north of Rio de Janeiro, not exactly third world jungle land, but close enough to it.

I decided to call in a favour.

"Go"

"Amra, its Lester," silence, "I'm calling in my favour," more silence, "you from when—"

"I know from when," shit, talking to this woman always made Lester uneasy.

"I have a friend who wants to join your girls, it's a Fed thing"

"Manoso's girl? You sure you wanna call in _your_ favour for _his _girl"

"Well…you know who she is, god knows how, and you probably already know about her plan"

"Les, _everybody_ knows about the girl, every woman in the underground cried when she came along and stole Manoso's heart. And I do know but it's only because I have girls working with your Feds, damn men can't keep their mouths shut when a pretty lady wants info for sex"

"So you'll help?

"Yer, when will she arrive?"

"In three weeks tops, less if it all goes down proper"

"I'll email you details, I assume you want to operate out of Bosnia again"

"Got it in one, considering that Ranger's being held in Middle Eastern desert"

"Keep an eye on your email, maybe something interesting will turn up, have to go"

Disconnect. Her phone manners were almost as bad as Ranger's, it was a good thing she was hot, sex on a stick hot.

Another interesting thing to note about the case was that this militant group who held Ranger now didn't appear to have any networks outside the Middle East. Granted that was a large enough area already, but it didn't explain how Ranger got to where he was from his South American post.

**BREIFING: 2/10/06**

**SUBJECT: CARLOS 'RANGER' MANOSO- RESCUE**

**PRESENT: 7463-69828326-9733**

** 8463-29476384-0283**

** 5394-62837329-9274**

**GIVEN INTEL:**

**Origin: South America: Chile**

**Team Origin: Special Forces**

**Member Alpha**

**Current: Middle East: **

**Status: Held by **آلهات مطرقة

This was followed by several pages of maps, a possible plan of action, contact lists, backgrounds of Ranger's team members and the histories of both the mission he was on and the group that he was currently being held by.

"Lady and gentlemen, as you can see, this mission is not a simple case of in-out-get away fast. We must infiltrate this group before hand to investigate the way they work and so that when Steph arrives she can be um…"

"Lester, we all know that this plan is going to be shot to shit if I end up doing the guard and not the prisoner"

"Yes, that was my point," Steph smiled at Lester it wasn't often that he got so embarrassed and was taking in every minute of it. "So if you've all read your files, I think that we need to talk about training."

"She's not trained for this situation; in fact, her background shows that she had no training at all!" This particular Fed, a Mr Segno, was getting on Stephanie's nerves, but she let Bobby handle it.

"Mr Segno, Steph has all the training she needs, if you would like she can do a four day course, but we plan on having her in Bosnia within three weeks"

"Three weeks? Mr Brown, this is suicide! You expect that she can be made into a whore in three weeks? I guess that means she must be one already—"

He was cut off as both Bobby and Lester threw themselves at him, bring them crashing to the floor, rolling around, knocking over chairs bumping into walls.

The Tank, having made his way round that table dragged Lester off while the other Fed present, Mr Wealden, restrained Bobby.

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**Stephs POV (patching up Lester and Bobby)**

"God guys, he was just getting you heated up!"

"But he _called you a whore!_"

"Les, every second skip calls me that! It doesn't make it true. If I was a whore then wouldn't I be sleep with all of you?"

"Well…"

"Exactly. And you Bobby! What will I do with both of you?"

"Aww Steph, he only managed to land a few between us. If you ask me he's the one that needs training!"

Both Stephanie and Lester laughed at Bobby's dig at Segno, "But I really should have defended my own honour!"

"But you shouldn't be fighting in a conference room, it's not dignified!"

"Bobby… then what were you doing?"

Just then Tank walked in, "He was ruining relationships, as it is Segno has been admitted to Trenton General with a broken nose and was have to bring another Fed in on the action"

"Sorry"

"Sorry"

"Sorry"

"Don't you be sorry Steph, you're not the one beating up someone trying to help you. As for you, Lester and Bobby, you can each have surveillance for then next three skips"

"Can we—"

"No, you cannot spit them between yourselves! Nor can you swap them for intel or control room duty"

Stephanie laughed again, god these guys made her laugh. The group convened back to the conference room were Mr Wealden was waiting to finish the meeting.

"Mr Wealden—"

"Call me Scott, and I'm awfully sorry about Segno, he had no right to accuse Miss Plum of being a whore, I know that we all take different aliases to complete jobs

"Soctt, there was no harm done, Steph knows that the accusation does not reflect your opinions"

"Well, gentlemen, if we have that sorted I would like to discuss how on _Earth_ you planned on getting me in there, I didn't get time to read that part of your briefing because of your little _stunt_. I love you for defending my honour and everything but I was more interested in the plan then my reputation."

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آلهات مطرقة**: Gods Hammer**

**Ok, first, asap is pronounced ay-sap, not ay-ess-ay-pee.**

**Second, military stuff isn't really my thing so if y'all know anything about that I would appreciate it if u emailed me**

**third, I sort of know were I'm going thanks to Mems (love you long time) and a few other people, but again, email me if u want a specific plot direction and ill probably take most of it on board!**

**Izi xx**


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